Football League World
·2 November 2024
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·2 November 2024
The attacker certainly earned his move to the Premier League
In the end, it was no surprise to see Sammie Szmodics depart Blackburn Rovers during the summer transfer window.
The attacker enjoyed an incredible individual campaign in the 2023/24 season, scoring 33 goals in all competitions.
That saw him not only win the Championship Golden Boot, but also almost single-handedly prevented the Ewood Park club from suffering relegation to League One.
Perhaps inevitably, that would lead to interest from the Premier League in the summer, and Szmodics would get his move in August, to newly-promoted Ipswich Town.
It was reported that the Tractor Boys paid Blackburn an initial £9million to secure the services of the Republic of Ireland international.
A move to a Premier League club is always going to be a big opportunity for any player, giving them a chance to play against some of the top teams on the planet.
But what has this switch to Portman Road meant for Szmodics from a financial point of view as well?
Here, we've taken a look at some of the estimates of wages at both Blackburn and Ipswich, in order to help get an idea.
It was only back in November last year that Szmodics had signed a new contract at Ewood Park, which had been set to run until the end of the 2025/26 season.
As a result of that new deal, the attacker had seen his wage move to £15,000, per week, according to estimates from Capology.
That works out a total of £780,000 per year, meaning that had he remained at Blackburn to see out that deal rather than joining Ipswich in the summer, he stood to earn £1.56million.
It also meant that by the end of the 2023/24 season, Szmodics was the joint third-highest earner in the first-team squad, as per these figures.
Only John Fleck (£20,000 per week) and Dom Hyam (£16,923 per week) were thought to be earning a higher salary at the club.
Even so, his move to Portman Road does seem to have given Szmodics a lift when it comes to his financial position.
According to predictions from Capology, the attacker is now earning a total of £25,000 per week, or £1.3million per year, with the Tractor Boys, making him their joint sixth-highest earner.
It also means he is earning £10,000 more every week in East Anglia, than he was when he was on the books at Blackburn.
That of course, works out at a total a £520,000 more per year for Szmodics than he was bringing in at Ewood Park.
Back in the summer, the 29-year-old signed a four-year contract with Ipswich, securing his future at Portman Road until the end of the 2027/28 season.
As a result, he is in line to earn a total of £5.2million from this contract, which is significantly more than than he would have done had he seen out his contract with Blackburn based on these figures.
On the pitch, it has been a tough start to the season for Ipswich, who sit 18th in the Premier League table after nine games, and are still waiting for their first league win.
From a personal perspective though, Szmodics may feel he has done his reputation no harm with goals against Manchester City and Brentford.